Stories, analysis, highlights, and everything Yankees from an up & coming sports journalist.

ALCS Game 3

Why oh why? That was all I could say after today’s game.

In another nail-biting ALCS game, the Angels beat the Yankees 5-4 in 11 innings. Not such a great day to be a Yankee fan, or me in general.

I’ll start with one of the most horrible decisions Joe Girardi has ever made. David Robertson was pitching FINE! WHY would he pull him for Alfredo Aceves??!!

Robertson made two quick outs in the frame, knocking Juan Rivera and Kendry Morales down first. Then, for no apparent reason, Girardi came out and pulled Robertson for Alfredo Aceves, the same pitcher who blew the lead in the 11th inning of game two.

What was he thinking?

Aceves gave up a single to Howie Kendrick and then the eventual game-winner to Jeff Mathis, who ripped a double to end the game.

Talk about a punch in the gut.

I know for me personally, this game hurt. I had a horrible day today and I wanted the Yankees to pick me up with a win. This morning I had seen an ex-girlfriend of mine (which didn’t make me happy) and later on during my ride home, another car almost hit me on the highway.

So for me, it was one of those “F.M.L. days.”

As for the good that came out of the day/game, I was pleased with a number of things the Yankees were able to do. First off, Derek Jeter. The Captain took Jered Weaver deep for a leadoff homer in the first inning, getting the Yankees off on the right foot.

It was Jeter’s 20th career postseason home run and he is now two behind Bernie Williams on the all-time postseason home runs list. The Captain is just doing his thing, that’s basically it. He knows how to perform when it matters and his leadoff homer was just another example of that.

And then there was Alex Rodriguez, who continued his assault on October with another home run in the top of the fourth. It was his fifth career home run off Weaver and his second homer in the ALCS.

A-Rod has been awesome; a clutch hitter and a player who is helping to carry the team.

Johnny Damon finally broke through with a postseason homer, crushing his first ’09 playoff home run in the fifth, again off Weaver. The homer gave the Yankees a 3-0 cushion.

Weaver was pulled after five innings because the Yankees hit him so hard; I had actually said, “The Yankees turned the dream Weaver into a nightmare.”

It made sense; they really gave him a hard time.

I was also happy with Andy Pettitte, who tossed a quality start for the second straight game. The lefty went 6 1/3 innings and gave up three runs on seven hits. He walked one and struck out two.

Really he only made two mistakes, one to Kendrick and one to Vladimir Guerrero. Kendrick took Pettitte deep in the fifth while Vladdy touched him up in the sixth. Other than that, I was happy with his performance.

I also have to hand it to Mariano Rivera, who was like Houdini being able to escape a huge jam in the 10th inning. The Angels had the bases loaded and one out, but with some help from Mark Teixeira was able to get out of it unscathed.

Now…back to the bad.

As I noted before, Girardi’s decision just did not make any sense whatsoever. Robertson’s numbers against Kendrick were barely anything (1-for-2 lifetime with one strikeout) so why in the love of God would you pull him? Especially since Robertson made two quick outs.

It made no sense. What was he thinking? John Flaherty of the YES Network said “Girardi has some explaining to do.” He has got that right.

Another unfortunate occurrence for the Yankees was their caught stealing in the eighth. Brett Gardner came in to pinch-run for Hideki Matsui, but was thrown out by 11th inning’s hero Mathis. I have to hand it to the Angels–they had Gardner scouted and they executed a good play. It was just bad for us.

Jorge Posada came up next and smashed a solo home run. The Yankees could have had two runs on the round-tripper, but great job by Posada tying the game. It was a big time home run in a key situation and it kept the Yanks in the game.

Plus, that homer was Posada’s 11th career postseason long ball.

A lot of folks will probably be quick to destroy Joba Chamberlain, as he gave up the go-ahead run in the seventh. But in all fairness, Chamberlain had been very good in game two and in the ALDS, so I am not quick to jump on his back.

Phil Hughes gave up some runs in game two of the ALDS vs. the Twins and I don’t remember anyone jumping on him. So I will not blame Chamberlain for his hiccup. He gave up a run, it happens. Just hope it doesn’t happen much more.

I also have to point out Nick Swisher and Melky Cabrera. Is it just me, or are these two really not doing much of anything?

In today’s game, Swisher left five men on base while Cabrera stranded seven. That’s not very productive if you ask me; both of their bats are just asleep and they need to wake up if the Yankees plan on winning.

Teixeira hasn’t been hitting either, he needs to break out of his slump (he was 0-for-3 today with two strikeouts) but at least he made up for it a little bit with his defense. Like I said, he helped Rivera of that precarious situation in the 10th with his D, but like Swisher and Cabrera, his bat needs to come alive.

Not to make it seem like I am bashing Swish, Melky and Tex; all three have done wondrous things this season to make the Yankee offense click. But when they aren’t clicking, the Yankees do not win.

There’s only so much Jeter and A-Rod can do.

Well, it’s difficult to win extra inning games on the road, and just as the Angels were victimized by it in game two, the Yankees were today. But that doesn’t mean the series is over for the Bronx Bombers.

Tomorrow night, the Yankees will send CC Sabathia to the mound to pitch against Scott Kazmir. The Yankees’ ace will be starting on three days rest and it will be the first time he is taking the mound on three days rest this year.

I don’t think it will affect him; Sabathia has been so dominant all year, what’s another day of rest? I have a feeling he’ll go out and do as he’s been doing all year.

Well, it was a tough loss, but keep your heads up, Yankee fans. The series is not over. The way I see it, it’s only just begun. And the Yankees will still be playing with a lot of confidence tomorrow, especially with Sabathia on the hill.

3 Comments

I was listening to Mike Francesa after Damon’s HR made it 3-0 yesterday. Mike said the the Yankees are “dominating” LA, and that the Angels are “clearly a beaten team”. It seems to me that if Santana did not make a bad pitch on an 0-2 count to Arod in the bottom of the 11th, then the Angels would be up 2 games to 1.

Well, it wasn’t Santana that made the bad pitch, it was Brian Fuentes. Francesa is a little crazy (lol) but most of the time knows what he’s talking about. Neither team has been all that dominant in this series, but both teams have the capability to become dominant, especially the Yankees tonight w/ CC pitching. Hope everything goes the Yankees’ way, that’s pretty much all I can hope for.

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